Planning an Engaging School Assembly

Close your eyes. Imagine yourself at a middle or high school assembly. What do you see? Chances are, you are picturing a large group of students sitting in rows, listening to a teacher or principal share information that probably could have been more clearly communicated in an advisory or the morning bulletin. Maybe the speaker sounds like the adults in Charlie Brown cartoons, with the voice muffled and all “Wah, wah.” The technology doesn’t work, and everyone’s eyes are glazed over because there’s a slide being projected with paragraphs of text and no visuals.

And it’s not just the students who are falling asleep from boredom. It’s the teachers as well.

It’s time to rethink the traditional assembly format. Modern classrooms are dynamic, interactive, and inclusive spaces. There’s no reason why assemblies can’t be as well. If we are moving away from one-size-fits-all teaching models in our classrooms, we need to do the same with whole-school assemblies. As teachers and administration, we can do this through five different methods.

1. Plan each assembly purposefully

It sounds obvious, but don’t meet just to meet. Assemblies often bring together hundreds of students and staff. That’s a lot of people to gather, especially if there’s no clear reason. Whoever is planning the assembly needs to make sure its purpose is clear. Is it to distribute information, bring kids together to build community, have some fun, listen to music, celebrate school events and athletic team highlights, or teach a key school value or character trait?

All of these purposes are different and require different kinds of structures—if the purpose isn’t articulated from the jump, the assembly might be similarly undirected. If the information could be better shared in another format, do that.

2. Pay attention to tech and slide design

This is one of the easiest places to make a difference. It makes sense to consult someone on the IT team for support before the assembly to make sure everything is working properly. Otherwise, you run the risk of being embarrassed or stressed in a high-pressure situation with hundreds of eyes staring at you. Always use a microphone: Even if you think you have a loud voice, audience members in the back will struggle to hear you without proper amplification.

In a similar vein, it’s always a good idea to consult a graphic design teacher at your school or someone else who knows about graphics before presenting your slideshow. An expert can make sure your slides are not overloaded with text, which is hard to read. You can also do some independent research on design principles to learn how to make your slides more understandable and visually appealing. Here are a few quick tips: Keep the text minimal, use high-contrast visuals, and incorporate multimedia and video content as needed.

3. Partner with student support teams

Intentional co-planning with members of the student support team can help students with different sensory and learning needs feel more included in assemblies. Some neurodivergent students have sensory issues and/or feel overwhelmed in large groups. Learning support teachers can help organize accommodations for these students during assemblies, such as breaks, headphones, separate seating, and fidget toys.

At my school, our student media team works alongside the tech department to set up a simple internal live stream, allowing students who prefer smaller group settings to watch the assembly from a designated quiet room. That way, they know what is going on, but they don’t have to be in a room that feels too noisy or crowded.

English as an additional language teachers can offer support to help multilingual learners grasp the assembly content better. These specialist teachers can assist with translanguaging, translating, or using interpreters as needed. They can also review any slide shows to make sure that adequate visuals and graphics are incorporated to make key ideas understandable to learners at different English proficiency levels.

4. Give students meaningful ownership

One way to ensure that student voice is taken into account when planning assemblies is to create a student leadership club to prepare and run the assemblies. My school’s student leadership club meets weekly to brainstorm ideas for assemblies. They send out a monthly form asking the student body for assembly suggestions, then collate the suggestions and plan accordingly. They also collaborate to prepare slides, develop activities, and distribute speaking responsibilities.

After the club started, our assemblies became more student-centered and collaborative. I remember a particularly memorable one where we all played “Would You Rather?” and then enjoyed a whole-school Just Dance session. It was so fun!

5. Build in dynamic audience participation

Finally, think about ways to get students actively involved in the assembly. Remember: show, don’t just tell. You can incorporate pair-share activities, play games like Stand Up/Sit Down, invite students up onstage for challenges like “Minute to Win It,” and ask different groups or age levels to lead different parts. There’s no reason for all students to passively listen for an hour.

We once grouped students by advisory and played whole-school Jeopardy. Another time, we split up into teams and went outside for a silly scavenger hunt. Think beyond the walls of the auditorium! In our assemblies, there are also often musical or creative performances from student bands or informal groups, in addition to student-made videos highlighting sports teams and clubs. The goal is to give students opportunities to contribute, participate, and connect.

The power of purposeful gatherings

When they are well planned and thoughtfully designed, assemblies can bring people together. We used to have students arriving late to school on assembly mornings, perhaps because they viewed the assemblies as unimportant. But now, things have changed. Students love entering the auditorium once a month to see their peers up onstage. There is laughter, shared experiences, and the sense that we are building a cohesive community.

There is no reason why assemblies still have to be just “sit and get” activities or things we do simply because they are scheduled on the calendar. Let’s transform the traditional assembly into something more engaging, inclusive, and student-led, and bring some joy back into our auditoriums.